By TOM HAYES

 

HIDDEN in the hills of Jumbuck sits a supportive, community-led youth program.

Known as Mountain Track, the program is aimed at youth experiencing tough times, whether that be youth crime, homelessness, or poor mental health, offering long-term support.

Sharing the mission statement “fly together”, the mission of the program helps individuals find their belonging, setting youth on a positive path that they might not have previously had.

Now in operation for about eight months, at the forefront includes co-founder, Laura Myer and co-founder and chief executive, David Butler.

Ms Myer is a qualified youth worker, who has more than 20 years of experience in various settings. Mr Butler has had a long career is many forms including trade, military, policing, mining, and hospitality. While he has no formal training in the youth work space, he does possess the natural ability to connect with all young people – which he finds to be most important.

Also a big part of the operation is Phillip Bloy, who is the Mechanical Program Director for the program. He himself has had a past quite like the youth in the program and is now giving back to help today’s youth.

Sitting on the 300-acre Jumbuk Park, the program now has 12 participants, with hopes of continually expanding.

Speaking to the Express, Ms Myer mentioned what Mountain Track hopes to achieve.

“To make a long-term difference in the life of the most vulnerable and at-risk young people in the Latrobe Valley,” she said.

“It is such a disadvantaged area of the state and the country, so just being able to make a dent in those lives and show everyone what these young people are capable of by giving them the right support or encouragement.”

While making that long-term difference, Mountain Track shines a new light on these individuals, opening new doors for them in the process.

“It gives them a place to belong, it gives them purpose, it gives them direction, it gives them the possibility… it just opens up their worlds, gives them new horizons,” Ms Myer said.

According to the Mountain Track website, they offer a “holistic, flexible and long-term support for young people in the Latrobe Valley who are experiencing tough times”.

Mountain Track has a vision which is split up into sections, which Mr Butler resembles closely to the karate or jiu jitsu belt system. Each stage represents an increase in responsibility for their individual actions and the decisions they make.

Currently, Mountain Track finds at-risk youth from a number of places such as youth justice, schools, proactive policing unit, or via other participants, entering them into a six-week accelerator program, which gives them the ability to open a number of doors.

Participants vary in age from as young as 12-years-old to as old as 17 when entering the program. If need be, participants can stay on-site in the cabins, or can commute from home.

Jumbuk Park used to be a camp property, but has since been out of use since toward the start of the century after changing into the hands of the current owner.

Following the accelerator program, Mountain Track participants have the options to undertake a number of training programs. On top of these, Mountain Track hopes to add more, like music or photography.

Skills to learn include chainsaw and excavator training, which allow participants to unlock a seven-day disaster team training program. These programs include independence, team building, routine, and reliability.

Once fully trained, participants will be qualified enough to be deployed all over the country to help with disaster relief.

Other training programs might provide the skills necessary to get a job, or an apprenticeship, depending on the field.

Ms Myer explained that Mountain Track currently doesn’t have the manpower to expand to introduce new training programs.

“Once we’re able to get to that capacity where we can take whatever they’re interested in and guide them there – that’s the dream,” she said.

“At the moment we’ve only got a number of offerings that they can take up, and they do, they’re so enthusiastic.”

From what is currently available, Ms Myer has found that all participants have had success, or made progress in whichever field they have chosen.

“Firstly, they’re having better relationships at home, so they’re much more connected with their family and friends and got supportive partners,” Ms Myer said.

For one participant in particular, they went from skipping school and having trouble with the law, to now where they are ready to work, and they have sustained a better relationship with their family.

Other kids might go back into the schooling system, find temporary work, see an improvement in behaviour, or support new participants as they enter the program – which helps on the manpower shortage to some extent.

On Thursday, July 18, Victoria Police’s Blue Ribbon Foundation donated an unused van to Mountain Track to assist with their youth intervention program.

Meeting Mountain Track was Blue Ribbon Chief Executive, Neil Soullier and Senior Constable Timothy Parker.

Senior Constable Parker, of the Morwell Proactive Policing Unit, thought of the idea after noticing the van sitting in the Morwell Police Station car park.

Mr Soullier didn’t take much convincing to get on board, glad to see the van being put to good use again, handing over the keys to Mr Butler.

“The fact that the proactive police unit and the Blue Ribbon foundation recognise that these kids have such potential when given the right support and opportunities, and are happy to support them in this way means the world,” Mr Butler said.

“It’s just such a huge asset, we just don’t know exactly how we’re going to use it.”

Mr Bloy suggested the van to be used for multiple purposes, including making it compliant by putting seats in it, using it as a mobile workshop, and potentially visiting schools and teaching kids the basics.

Donations like this one is just what Mountain Track needs to keep running. While they do accept monetary donations, there is no harm in offering tools, equipment or even time.

Mr Bloy emphasised that instead of trading a car in for a small amount, donate it, so it can be used for the greater good, allowing kids to use them to train on, or repurpose them.

Visit their website for more information, at: mountaintrack.org/